Get Lucky: Year of the Pig

While most of us celebrated 2019 with champagne-soaked kisses as the clock struck midnight on December 31^st, there are quite a few ways to mark the clean slate of a new year, including one celebration that’s right around the corner: the Lunar New Year.

Recognized around the world with wild parties and colorful parades, the Lunar New Year (aka the Chinese New Year) is based on the lunar calendar, which means it lands on a different date each year depending on the moon. The new year always starts with a new moon, which gives the holiday a cleansing energy – it’s the perfect time to set your intentions for the new year, as well as Marie Kondo any emotional or physical loose ends that may be cluttering your life.

The Lunar New Year is all about manifesting good luck for the coming year. The festivities, foods, and colors of the holiday all ward off bad luck and bad vibes. From the dragon dances to the cash-filled envelopes, it’s a celebration about starting fresh and filling the new year with luck, light, and prosperity. We can definitely get down with that. Even the endless crackle and pop of firecrackers during Chinese New Year has a significance: their explosive sound is thought to scare off evil spirits bringing bad luck.

Everywhere you look during Lunar New Year, there are flashes of bright red, from the clothes people are wearing to the fireworks lighting up the sky. Red is China’s good luck color, believed to be the ultimate bearer of good fortune in all aspects of life. We agree – there’s just something about wearing the color red that makes you feel lucky. It’s an instant confidence booster, mood elevator, and conversation starter.

Chinese astrology has always used zodiac animals to represent the changing of the years. There are twelve zodiac animals, and each Lunar New Year ushers in a new animal. 2019 is the year of the Pig, the first one since 2007. If you’re born in a year of the Pig (1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, etc) there are certain things that are lucky just for you, such as the colors yellow, brown, gray, and gold, the numbers 2, 5, and 8, and daisies and hydrangeas. People born under the sign of the Pig are compassionate, focused, and generous to a fault. They always finish what they start and rarely ask for help, although they are always willing to give it.

 Take a cue from the Chinese and make your own rituals to harness the powerful energy of the upcoming new moon. Set your intentions for the year and banish any bad vibes by buying yourself a bunch of daisies and slipping into something red or yellow. Whether it’s a lingerie set hidden under your clothes or a show-stopping lacy dress, get ready to get lucky. Here’s to the new year!